Tedros Moore Rises To The Top

Chapter 4:

Tedros stared at her in the eye, disbelief washing over him. Even as his girlfriend was way richer than him, he never dreamt of being in a financial problem and asking her for help. He was the man. He should be able to provide for her.

His voice cracked a little, and he took a while to say, “It’s okay Hannah, I’m not that desperate for help.” He never believed he would say that since his father was dying, but shame wouldn’t bring him to ask her for it.

Her expression turned soft. She cupped his cheek to get his attention fixated on only her. “I can borrow you, you’ll return it whenever you have it.” She looked at him, trying to catch his expression, but he wasn’t convinced, so she sighed and continued, “Look, I want my father-in-law alive for our wedding, I don’t want him dead too.”

Tedros' eyes lit up a little, but he still wanted to confirm something, “Are you going to-?” He didn’t finish when she nodded her head gently and smiled.

He hugged her tightly, tears threatened to fall, but he controlled it. He was done embarrassing himself for the day. As if remembering something, she gently pulled away from her embrace, his lips pursed into a thin line as he rubbed his temples in frustration, “What will your mother say? I don’t think she is going to approve of you marrying me. After what happened tonight, she hates me enough as it is.”

“I don’t care if my mother approves of you, she isn’t the one getting married, so she can’t tell me who to and not to get married to.” She chuckled and shrugged, “So how much did the doctor ask for?”

“Twenty thousand dollars for drugs and chemotherapy. He says delay will have consequences.” He said slowly that one would have to be really close to him before you’d hear what he said.

She thought for a while, “What about next week? We have this huge deal our company wants to bag. I’ll give you my share. How about that?”

Tedros was dumbfounded, his racing heart calmed for a beat and turned warm, “I promise to return the money as soon as I have it.”

She waved her hands in the hair, “You can return it to me anytime, no rush.”

Sometimes, she just experienced this sweet feeling towards the man in front of her. She stared at his handsome face, then at his chiseled jawline and strong body that made her heart skip a beat.

“Stop it! "You’d have him all to yourself when you’re married.” Her inner mind scolded.

She forcefully diverted her attention to his face. “It’s better I leave now. "I didn’t want my mother to be worried. "You know she can be a handful sometimes.” She had a little smile on her face, her heart gently slowing down unlike earlier.

He nodded with a wide smile evident on his face. His heart was filled with joy. As she turned to leave, he hugged her from behind and whispered into her left ear, “Thank you, babe.”

Her heart flipped hard. She was grateful he couldn’t see her face right now because her cheeks flushed. If only he had known what he was doing to her, was he trying to seduce her?

Unable to speak, she just nodded and scurried away like a little kid.

Tedros looked at her retreating figure in admiration. He knew he had made the right choice and was glad she was in his life. His aim now was to make enough money to take care of her. He didn’t care about the approval of his soon-to-be mother-in-law, he just wanted to do enough to love her properly.

As he walked away, his phone buzzed violently in his pocket. When he saw the caller ID, his smile turned into a deep frown with a hint of worry.

His heart skipped a beat. Why was the doctor calling him again? His grip against the phone became harder, and it took some time before he could answer the phone.

“Or did something happen to my father?” That question lingered in his mind for a bit until he heard the doctor’s voice.

“Hello again, Mr. Moore,” he said, and went silent. The doctor’s silence was killing him. He needed answers now.

“Did something happen to my father?” He asked he needed to answer immediately.

Again, there was a good moment of silence from both ends of the phone. Tedros felt uneasy, “How’s the condition? About the bills, I’m going to pay them soon.”

The doctor cleared his throat, “About the payment, can you come to the hospital later so we can discuss it? Your father still needs more drugs since his health is unfortunately deteriorating every day.”

For the umpteenth time today, his heart sank again, like another hole had made another space in his heart. The midnight breeze blew through his hair and left it scattered, but he was less concerned about that.

He was silent, trying to process yet another banging piece of news from the doctor he met a few hours ago.

“Doctor, my girlfriend had to lend me the amount you asked for. "How do you expect me to ask for more?” He tried calming down after realizing it wasn’t the doctor’s fault, all the fault was on him for being a wretched son to his father.

“That’s why I said, can you come to the hospital later so we can go over the bills and your father’s health once again, his life is at risk if there’s a delay.” The doctor spoke gently with a little hint of pity.

As if he was giving up hope, Tedros nodded slightly and the only thing he could get himself to say was, “Alright, thank you doc.”

He felt like his life kept on crumbling before him and he had no control over it.